Time, <i>kairos</i> words, and contexts of ancient entrepreneurship

Purpose This study engages with the development of kairos and other ancient Greek words for time in contexts of ancient entrepreneurship, seen in the perspective of modern entrepreneurship process research. Design/methodology/approach With a primary focus on the societies of Homer, Aristotle, and Augustine as contexts, the development of varying senses of kairos and its derivatives is brought into relation with modern studies of entrepreneurial processes. Three ancient narratives of voyages in the Mediterranean Sea are analysed for how captains use opportunities and for relations between captains, crew, and passengers. Findings Two kairos derivatives, kairios and eukairia, are particularly relevance for entrepreneurship. As a locational concept, kairios in the Iliad refers to attacking a deadly spot. It is with Aristotle that kairos is narrowed and refers to only a point of time. A term of rhetorical design, eukairia, is later translated into Latin as opportunitas. Under Christianity, kairos remains temporal but takes on new senses. In the three voyages, captains discover opportune winds, leave and reach harbours, sometimes repeatedly, and the destination may have to change. Conflicts between passengers and captain, whose capability is stressed or questioned, or between passengers and crew, arise. Research limitations/implications The analysis of the voyages, which illustrate subjective opportunities, indicates that within process studies of entrepreneurship there should be more awareness of relationships between entrepreneurs, their employees, and their customers. Originality/value This study explores the changing meanings of kairos words in specific entrepreneurial contexts.